Mobile Internet devices
Intel has been racking up the press clips in recent weeks for new chip designs aimed at cheap laptops and handheld devices (e.g., the Wall Street Journal today, Business Week last week, Engadget last month). The downsized chips promise to bring desktop computing power (albeit from a couple of desktop generations ago) to a new type of mass-market mobile Internet device -- something like an iPhone at half the price or less. This is another sign of the pieces falling into place for ubiquitous connectivity, that is, people being connected to the Net wherever they go. And when that happens, the Internet will probably change everything again.
We're in an interim stage in the process now, with near-ubiquitous connectivity for voice and SMS in the developed world thanks to the mobile phone networks. But as the recent moves by AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile to offer unlimited calling plans indicate, mobile carriers in the U.S. aren't eager yet for customers to use their airwaves continuously for video streaming, RSS feeds and other data applications. Meanwhile, efforts to build WiFi networks in cities have been set back by economic problems, delaying the arrival of new wireless data pipelines.
A new wave of low-cost portable computing devices could spur demand for cheap wireless bandwidth, helping municipal WiFi, WiMax and 700-Mhz services establish themselves. The demand for such devices seems clear -- look at the mania around the iPhone and the popularity of mobile e-mail devices among people who aren't chained to an office. So the question for the entertainment industry is, will content companies anticipate the wave by embracing ubiquitous connectivity and supporting services that rely on it? Or will they be beaten to the punch by entrepreneurs who entertain without enriching Hollywood?
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is there a fear in having internet accessable everywhere one goes?
as easy as my life would be, that's exactly the problem.. I, along with others rely to much on these advancements and disregard/ miss out on actually doing something on their own.
We seems to be going into a time in which with an advancement comes the need for another product in order to operate. is this industries way of tkaing more money than neccessary from the consumer?
What is meant by "entrepreneurs who entertain without enriching Hollywood?"
Posted by: alice | February 24, 2008 at 10:07 PM
By "entrepreneurs who entertain without enriching Hollywood," I was referring to user-generated content sites such as YouTube.
Posted by: Jon Healey | February 25, 2008 at 02:54 PM
Hollywood needs to jump with both feet in with technology. Entertainment is changing for the younger generation. And the avenue they choose to watch entrainment is evolving. http://hotcookies.net
Posted by: John Calkins | February 26, 2008 at 08:13 AM